What is a VDE 0160 pulse?

A VDE 0160 pulse is a high-energy voltage pulse that can occur in the mains voltage of industrial networks (e.g. when shutting down large loads or after short circuit currents have subsided).

Although the VDE 0160 standard is not mandatory, the pulse is a quality feature of power supplies. The pulse is superimposed on the sinusoidal (sine-wave-shaped) voltage of the peak value and increases the peak value by a factor of 2.3. The length of the pulse is either 0.3 ms (class 1) or 1.3 ms (class 2).

A VDE 0160 pulse cannot be adequately damped using conventional filters. In this case, active filters (suppression circuits) or larger power supplies are required.

All PULS power supplies are protected against these energy-rich input transients.